Prosopagnosia
by The Red Dove
Summary: The X-Men are tired of being mocked. But what happens when they find themselves doing the very thing they hate?


Mutants. If you so much as said the word, you were looked at with disgust. Not disgust at _you_, but at the topic you brought up. After all..._  
_

Because of Mutants, people lived in fear. Fear turned into anger, and several mutants went into hiding, like the newer students at Xavier Institute, who came for safety, not to become afraid. So only the older generation of X-Men remained.

However, some humans didn't live in fear. Take young Amanda Sefton, for example. She was currently walking outside of the school during lunch break with her boyfriend, Kurt Wagner. She was also considered an outcast since she hung out with mutants. Even her own parents found it disgusting, so she spent most of her time at the Institute. As they reached their table, laughing, they realized that the table was empty, save for one soul neither of them knew. She was typing away at a laptop, with headphones over her ears.

"Hey lovebirds, over here!" Scott called, gesturing to a table near their usual one.

The walked over to the group and sat down. "She like, doesn't answer us, I think her music is up too loud." Kitty answered their unspoken question. "So we sat over here."

Jean came soon after, confused but accepting of the new seating arrangement, and watched as Rogue, her nose stuck in a book, sat down at the original table, next to the unknown girl. As the goth girl continued reading, the other girl looked up and seemed to study Rogue, before turning back to her laptop.

"Rogue!" Kurt called. "Over here!" patting the seat on the left side of him (Amanda was on his right side). Rogue glanced up confused from her book, noticed the unknown girl, picked herself up and walked over to the new spot.

"New girl." Kitty said. "Saw her in my Chemistry class. She actually called the new teacher 'Mr. McCoy!'"

"You mean she called Mrs. Heimz 'Mr. McCoy?'" Rogue asked. "She never knew Mr. McCoy, and then there's the whole gender thing goin' on."

Kurt laughed. "I remember that! Mrs Heimz looked so angry to be called Mr. McCoy...probably because he's a mutant..."

The laughter from the table died down a bit.

And the girl was looking their way, looking very angry. She slammed her laptop shut, placed it in its bag, and started walking to the street.

"Hey!" Jean called. "School's not over yet!"

She continued to walk and was soon out of sight.

* * *

"Ms. Grey?" Mr. Krusen asked.

"Yes, Mr. Krusen?"

"There's a new student here, an Esther Warde. She will sit next to you...if she ever shows up."

"Yeah, I think she walked home." Jean responded. "She saw us and just walked away."

Mr. Krusen nodded, saying something about 'common sense' and 'mutants', but Jean didn't pay any mind. She decided that the least she could do after insulting her mistake at lunch was to take some notes from class for her.

* * *

Kurt and Amanda took the long way back to the Institute. As they walked along main street, chatting about how boring school was, and walked into a busy store, when they bumped into someone vaguely familiar.

It was the girl from the table.

"Hey, Esther, right?" Kurt asked.

She looked up. "Hi." she stated. "Yes."

"Vhy did you run from school today?"

She thought about her answer. "Some jerks were making fun of me. So I went home. Then I came here because Mom has to do some shopping."

"And your mom was okay with you coming home?" Amanda asked.

"She thinks it was a half day."

Kurt and Amanda nodded, knowing that the girl lied, and knowing that they were part of the reason she left in the first place.

"What's this about half a day?" a woman next to her asked, but Esther just continued walking with Kurt and Amanda.

"Did you recognize the 'jerks'?" Amanda cautiously asked.

"No."

They both silently sighed in relief.

"So, vhere's your mother?" Kurt asked, trying to start a conversation. Esther turned around.

"I don't know."

"I'm right here." the woman right next to her said. "I've been here the whole time, Esther."

"Sorry, Mom." she turned around to face her. "Didn't recognize you."

The mother sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Stay right here, and the password today is 'macaroni popcorn'."

"Okay."

"You two, come with me." she gestured to Kurt and Amanda, and the three of them walked away.

"Listen, you two, I really appreciate you trying to become friends with my daughter, I really do. However, I don't think it's going to work out."

"Vhat do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"Well...you guys..." she didn't finish. "Just..."

"We understand, Mrs. Warde." Kurt said.

"Miss Warde." she corrected.

"But why doesn't she know we're mutants?"

"She's...she's sick. She has Prosopagnosia. Meaning tomorrow, she'll remember you guys, but not know who you are."

"That...doesn't make any sense." Amanda stated.

"Everyone looks like a stranger to her, like everyone is faceless. If she tried to look for you and you were right next to her, she couldn't tell."

Just then, everything seemed to click. Someone must have told Esther that the Chemistry teacher _was_ Mr. McCoy, so she assumed the teacher is Mr. McCoy. Not knowing where/who her mother was when she was standing right next to her. And they were laughing about it...

And they were tired of people laughing at them.

"As you can see, my daughter has enough issues of her own. The last thing she needs is having dangerous..._mutants_ trying to befriend her adding to them."

"Okay, Miss Warde." Kurt said.

"No!" Amanda said. "Why are you all so judgmental towards mutants! I bet Professor Xavier could help your daughter with his ability, they could all help people, but you guys just-"

"Amanda, it's all right, I understand her." Kurt tried to assure.

"I don't!" Amanda stated. "What kind of sick person just judges people who have _no _say about what they look like, or what they can do?"

"Amanda!" Kurt said.

Miss Warde just stared at the two. "Stay away from my daughter..._freaks_."

* * *

It was nine o' clock at night when Amanda left the Institute. Kurt didn't dare tell anyone about how they all insulted Esther's disability. Instead, he looked it up online.

Prosopagnosia, he discovered, was caused from head trauma. But how did she get head trauma?

_Kurt, could you please see me in my office? _

Kurt sighed and ported to just outside of the door.

_Come in._

He opened the door and walked inside.

"You seem really upset about something. Is there something I can do to help you, Kurt?" The Professor asked.

"I feel awful." Kurt admitted.

"I see. How is that?"

"There is this girl that made a mistake in class today, and I vas laughing about it with the guys. However, I later found out that she has something that..."

"Prosopagnosia?" Xavier asked.

"Are you snooping in my mind?"

"No, you brought the laptop with you. Let me see what it says about this." he stated as Kurt handed him the laptop.

"I take it she called someone a different name?"

"Ja, she called Mrs. Heimz 'Mr. McCoy.'"

"And now you feel terrible that you laughed at a disability the same way people laugh about your mutation?"

"Ja." he lowered his head.

"Kurt, you didn't understand. Just like people don't understand about your mutation. People make mistakes, and if anything, this proves that you're more human than I'm sure even you thought."

Kurt smiled at this. "Danke, Professor. I feel much better now."

"You don't seem like it." he read the online article again. "Are you worried about the 'head trauma'?"

Kurt paused. "Ja."

The Professor smiled. "I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about. There was probably just a car accident."

Kurt nodded. "Ja, probably. Thanks again, Professor. You alvays know vhat to say to cheer somevon up!" he said genuinely as he walked out with his laptop.

"Hey, Kurt! You've been acting like, all weird since you came home today." Kitty stated.

"I know. I found out that Esther has Prosopagnosia, so she honestly can't tell one face from another."

"Oh my God, I like, didn't know!" Kitty pouted. "I feel like, really bad now."

"It's okay, Kitty. I didn't know either. But now that ve know, ve can learn from our mistakes, and maybe some day, people vill do the same vith us."

Kitty smiled again. "I sure hope so, Kurt."

Kurt smiled at his friend. "Ve are more human than ve vant to think, ja?"

* * *

**First X-Men Evo fanfic done! Did I do good? Would you like more? You review, please?**


End file.
